No need for a fight

I was just amazed that you used this bear hunt story to illustrate the effectiveness of hunting with lever action rifles! Yes it was effective in dispatching the wounded bear, but was of absolutely no use in the actual hunt the previous day.

I accept that in this case, the lever rifle was used as a backup and hitting a runing target at that range is extremely difficult, no matter what rifle is used. However, the example did not illustrate the effectiveness of lever rifles at all IMHO - I do not subscribe to the "throw as much lead into the air as possible and hope to hit something" school, which is how THIS PART of the story appeared to me. The fact that the lever action was able to fire seven shots in a short space of time is irrelevant - because they all missed!

I have no argument with your long range shooting ability. However, hunting deer and hunting dangerous animals that are much tougher is different, not least for precisely the reason that was shown in your story - the bear was not fatally wounded, ran off and was not dispatched until the following day. My argument is not with the lever rifle, it is with the whole approach to the hunt outlined in your story.

My point was that the initial shot should not have been taken if there was a risk of subsequent shots not being successful due to the extreme range and a fast moving bear. Alternatively, the guide could have fired IMMEDIATELY after the client, before the bear started running. Granted, no hunter really wants his guide to shoot his bear, but both guide and hunter have a responsibility to hunt ethically, which means not taking risky long shots. In this case, the shot was long and risky - by virtue of the simple fact that the first shot was not good (yes, admittedly with hindsight).

I have no argument against the lever rifle, especially in the close range follow-up that occurred the following day (although xausa makes good points on this).

Hope that clarifies a little. What is your favourite lever action and calibre by the way?